Romano felt his head start to drift toward the taller Spanish man's shoulder as he listened to the music, the pile of tomatoes the specters had begun offering to try and keep them from any more escape attempts looking more and more appealing. The Italian was hungry and although Antonio was continuously prodding him to stay awake and shooting him warning looks to not touch the deliciously tempting food, it was becoming harder to keep himself under control. He didn't even know how it was possible for these things to keep producing more of the plant that wasn't exactly expected to be found in a forest like this, but figured that thinking too much on it would only make his head feel heavier. The specters weren't German and perhaps they could therefore conjure up foods their native lands would have plentiful, or since they would typically offer fruits to those they'd captured, Romano supposed that making these tomatoes would fall into that category too.

Antonio prodded him again, but Romano was too sleepy from the ethereal music to motion for the man to stop, prompting the Spaniard to poke him much harder than the last time as he jabbed him in the side. Romano jerked upright, shooting a glare over to the other man. Antonio looked equally sleepy, but it seemed his desire to keep the one next to him safe was spurring him to fight longer. He returned Romano's glare with a look both apologetic and yet pleased that Romano was more awake than before, sighing when the specters started up yet another song and a couple of girls came forward with more tomatoes to place in Romano's hands. The Spaniard watched worriedly as Romano took the fruit as instructed, his mouth watering as he let himself bring the tomato up to give it a sniff. Antonio waited until the girls had rejoined the others in dancing before grabbing the food away from Romano, finding it difficult to keep his composure at the look Romano gave him.

Antonio promised himself he'd take Romano to get as many tomatoes as he wished once they were out of this strange land, the longing the other had in his eyes to eat just one of them hard to watch. He knew there were few things that Romano would make obvious his delight in, one of which was enjoying his favorite food with others and it seemed these specters were counting on both their captives' preference for the food to draw them in even more. Romano practically pouted, making Antonio have to restrain himself from just pulling the other closer to him with how cute he thought the other was making himself.

The Spaniard was desperately trying to come up with some way of escape if their ghostly hosts weren't satisfied soon, wishing he could make his axe appear as easily as it seemed Ivan did with his pipe. The tomatoes were only going to put Romano and him to sleep faster, or do worse if the specters had something else in mind, and Antonio could sense they were running out of endurance. Just as he was contemplating taking one of the tomatoes to toss at one of the specters to provide Romano with a chance at escaping and bringing back help, a familiar yell sounded off to their right and Ivan, Ludwig and Feliciano emerged into their makeshift theater, spurring Antonio into grabbing a sleepy Romano up from his seat and backwards as a large snake followed after the other three men.

While the other three seemed to have taken notice of the other two men, they were clearly more concerned with the giant snake that was following them; and so were the Donas de fuera as they realized their performance had been interrupted and were not pleased. Their softer glow and pretty appearances quickly shifted to a darker countenance as they launched themselves at the snake, the reptile easily swallowing whole the first two that had attacked. But the sudden intrusion snapped Romano out of his trance, gasping as he spotted his younger brother who had unlatched himself from his German friend's side as was now running around screaming.

"Romano, get to your brother. I'll see if I can…" Antonio said, his words cut off as the snake's tail ended up tossing one of the remaining specters into him and causing both to tumble away. The Italian reached out for him as though to follow, but was blocked as more of the snake's coiling body landed near him as it twisted about in search of its prey while fighting more adversaries. He panted as he scurried away, seeing the creature spy him and abandon its dealings with Ludwig to dart after him. He shouted as he dodged out of the way, ducking as the specter with the guitar leaped at him with a snarl. He landed on the snake, the creature hissing at he managed to get in a few hits before having to dodge himself.

Romano watched only briefly before spotting his brother shaking in fear as he'd been tackled by one of the specters that was now an aydon looking for some payback. He quickly ran to his brother, knocking into the creature and wrestling with it himself, grasping about in the dirt to find something to defend himself with and managing to grab a hold of a rock. He bashed it into the side of the thing's head as hard as he could, not sure he could actually kill the thing with a rock but certain he could get away if he got it to let go of him. The aydon grunted from the impact, releasing Romano to get up and scurry over to where Feliciano was looking around desperately for some sort of weapon of his own, presumably to come to Romano's aid.

"What the hell do you think you ae doing just standing around like an idiot? Damn it, move it Feli!" Romano screamed to him, grabbing his younger brother's hand and leading the way toward where he hoped there would be cover. He could see Ivan riding the snake again as he hit it repeatedly over the head with no seeming affect anymore other than to make the snake mad.

"Oh! Fratello, the tomatoes!" Feliciano shouted, pointing to the mound that had been created by the specters when they weren't the bloodthirsty creatures they currently were as they fought the giant snake. Romano looked at his brother as though the other had legitimately been frightened out of his mind. "We can hide in the tomatoes! It's a good plan! I've done it before!" Feliciano continued, dragging his brother over to the pile, big enough for them to stack up and use as cover.

"And the damn potato-bastard found you anyway, didn't he?" Romano said, pleading with his brother to see reason. "This isn't going to work. We need to get out of here before the snake takes a bite out of us." He said, but Feliciano had already started enthusiastically building his tomato fort. Growling in irritation, Romano came to assist his brother anyway, not entirely sure what other plan he would have come up with anyway. Soon enough, the two of them were surrounded by the tomatoes and the remaining two aydons were completely oblivious to them as they huddled in the pile. The snake gave a violent shake and Ivan went sailing off to land on one of the bushes head-first, feet still kicking as he struggled to get free.

This left Ludwig to deal with the snake on his own, the German man obviously fatigued but still holding his ground as he continued to resort to using whatever he could get his hands on to use as a weapon against the snake. He ducked as the one of the remaining aydons lunged again at the snake, taking its attention off of Ludwig and giving him a chance to escape the coils that had begun to encircle him tightly. He attempted to grab its tail again like the first time he'd wrestled with it, but the writhing of the snake as it dealt with the specter that had begun to tear at its scales while the one that had been with Antonio returned to attack it as well, knocked over a tree and ended all efforts to immediately end that fight as Ludwig was now blocked between the fallen tree and the one he had been standing beside.

The Italy brothers clung to one another as the tree fell next to them, squashing some of their tomatoes and spraying them in tomato juice and skins as it pulverized that section of their fort. They fearfully took off into the cover of the forest, turning back around once they found their next hiding place to watch the snake gobble down the last of the specters. They winced as they realized the snake no longer had any distractions and began to panic as it seemed to lock onto where the two were hiding.

Feliciano turned to bury his face in his brother's chest as Romano covered his brother with his body, both whimpering but the older Italian peaked one eye open when the snake didn't immediately attack. He watched in confusion as the snake seemed to gag repeatedly before its eyes rolled back and it dropped forward, its head landing right in front of where the two brothers stood. He blinked at the turn of events as he realized the gigantic snake had chocked to death by swallowing the still struggling specters that were now trapped inside it and had killed it from within. Feliciano also peaked from behind his brother's arms, seeing the snake at the ground before looking up with relief in his eyes to his older brother. Romano and he shared a breathless laugh before the two of them sagged against one another, covered in tomato juice, landing in a heap as they fainted.

"Italy!" Ludwig shouted, doing his best to climb out from where the trees had trapped him between the two of them. He grunted with the effort as he pulled himself over the fallen tree's thick trunk. "Feliciano!" He called out again in a more concerned tone when nothing but silence reached him. He reached out for another hold, finding someone pulling his hand. "Feliciano?" He asked, but knew that the Italian's grip was never that firm, his suspicions confirmed when he was met with Ivan's face instead of the northern Italian.

"Lovi? Feli?" Antonio was also calling out, stumbling over to them. "Amigos, what happened? Where are the Italys?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as he looked about. "I was talking with Romano and then something hit me and…I remember wrestling with it to get it off me but I…I must've been hit on the head. Where are they?" The Spaniard asked, looking around in a stunned sort of state at the large snake that lay on the ground.

"We do not know." Ivan said, rubbing his back from the way he'd ended up landing. "Ouch. Was hard snake to kill. Must be sure it is dead though." He said with a smirk, pulling out his pipe that looked like he might need to do something about as it was dented in some areas – although the others never really knew just how the pipe never remained that way as though it really was a 'magic metal pipe' like the Russian said. He walked over to where the head was, intending to prod it and probably smack it once more for good measure. Ludwig finished climbing down with Antonio's help, watching as Ivan raised his pipe to strike but then hesitated.

"Oh dear. It is looking like we might have been too slow this time." Ivan said, looking back over to where the other two stood as he pointed with his pipe. Ludwig and Antonio made their way over to where Ivan stood, immediately spotting the red-soaked Italians still clinging to one another. Ludwig blinked rapidly at the sight, looking over to gauge Ivan's reaction but found the Russian looking his usual self except for the smile. Antonio however, continued forward to kneel next to the two of them, his eyes watering already.

"Italy?" He called out, reaching out to shake both brother's shoulders. "Feli, Lovi…wake up. Por favor…lo siento I was not there…wake up." He pleaded, Ludwig overcoming his own shock to brush past where Ivan stood to kneel next to Feliciano.

"Italy?" Ludwig said, trying to pry apart the grip the two Italians had on each other in their unconscious state. Antonio did the same with Romano, the two succeeding in getting the brothers disentangled from one another.

"Por favor, mi tomate, por favor…" Antonio continued to say, cradling Romano to him and looking over to Ludwig as he checked over Feliciano. "Say something…" He said, running his hands through the southern Italian's hair, mindful of the curl although he was considering pulling it for any response.

"Tomatoes…" Romano grumbled from where the Spanish man had pressed his face against his chest. "You….you owe me real tomatoes bastard." He said again, Antonio gasping and pulling away to gaze in relief and joy at the scowl Romano sent him.

"Gracias a Dios. Oh Lovi! This means Feli's alright!" Antonio said, Romano frowning at the quick switch to concern over his brother, although the Spanish man once again crushed him in a tight hug and rocked with him in his happiness. "Thank goodness you are not dead. I thought I hadn't saved you this time. But my little henchman knows boss is always strong." He said, smile impossibly wide as he snuggled with the now struggling Lovino.

"You didn't save me or Feli! The damned thing chocked to death on all the Donas de fuera it ate." Romano grumbled, trying to turn his head away and out of reach of the kisses the Spanish man was planting repeatedly on his cheek. "Stop crushing me." He grouched, but Antonio wasn't listening, too happy to be hugging the southern Italian.

"Mmmm…..pasta….."Feliciano said as he too woke up, stretching pleasantly as he did so as if completely forgetting what had just happened. "Oh, ciao Ludwig. Did I forget to….ahhh! The Biscione!" Feliciano said, screaming and squirming back and out of Ludwig's hold once he spotted the dead snake's head so close to his feet.

"Is dead now. Maybe make many bags or shoes with skin, da?" Ivan said, the others not sure if he was attempting to make a joke but the Russian man seemed to have amused himself so they gave halfhearted chuckles as well. "We should be going now. Maybe see if we can find explanation as to where we are?" Ivan said with a pointed look to Ludwig, the German man internally wincing as he'd forgotten that Ivan had wandered off before there was any sort of understanding of what was going on and was obviously keen on getting answers fast.

"Biscione? You mean that stupid snake on those crests?" Romano said, sitting in Antonio's lap with arms crossed as he'd clearly given up attempting to wrestle out of the Spaniard's hold. He could always resort to head-butting him, but the other man was helping get the tomato bits off of him and the southern Italian was too lazy to get worked up over it again. "What was it doing going after you then? Shouldn't it like you? Why'd it want to eat the potato-bastard too? You know, other than the fact that he reeks of beer?" He asked, Ludwig shooting an unamused look to the Italian, Romano more comfortable with his boldness apparently with Antonio beside him.

Feliciano shrugged as he looked again at the snake. "I don't know. Maybe because it was used…um…" Feliciano said, swallowing around a lump in his throat. "The Duchy of Milan used it too." He said, avoiding the awkwardness that came about for him whenever he'd bring up Holy Roman Empire around Ludwig, even if the other man didn't understand what his anxiety was about. "B-But, I still don't-a understand what's going on….Germany!" Feliciano said, turning to his friend with a pleasing expression on his face.

"Well, the important thing is that you both are alright. Dios mio, we were so worried when we found you like that." Antonio said, crushing Lovino to him again in a hug that Feliciano was copying as he clung to Ludwig.

"Da. But we should be continuing looking for the others." Ivan said, pipe no longer in his hand as he poked at the snake with his foot, looking back up with smile back on his face.

"And how would we do that?" Antonio asked, finally freeing Romano from his grip so that the southern Italian was able to get to his feet and promptly start berating Ludwig to let go of his brother despite it being the northern Italian doing the clinging.

Ivan turned to face the Spaniard, pointing in the direction of the broken trees and disturbed ground that was the result of the snake following after them. "We follow trail of devastation back. Always interesting what you find on the other end, but I am thinking we can follow path to where Ludwig last left a mark on the tree, if the tree is still upright." He said, Ludwig nodding along with the slightly worrisome plan. "But if not, it is nice day out for a walk." Ivan continued, looking up at the cloudy sky.

"Nice day for a walk? Are you kidding?" Lovino grumbled, wiping his face once more to get rid of as much tomato juice as he could since it seemed he ended up getting splashed with the majority of it rather than his luckier younger brother.

"Da. It could be blizzard. Harder to fight monsters in snowstorm." Ivan said cheerily, tilting his head to the side as if enjoying some hidden joke as he looked over to Ludwig. "I will lead." He said, not waiting for the others to respond, climbing over fallen branches back down the path to where they first encountered the giant snake. The others looked at one another briefly before following after the seemingly unfazed Russian man as Ivan continued his trek as if it was just a simple stroll through a garden rather than a monster-infested forest.

"So, I am thinking…" Antonio began, breaking the silence that both Romano and Ludwig thought unlikely to have with Feliciano around, "…Amigos, even though we have no idea how what got wherever here is, I have another question." He said, Ludwig sighing as he felt the Spaniard inevitably directing the conversation toward him. "So far there have been the Donas de fueras, the señoras blancas, and now that large snake…" He began, his face taking on a thoughtful expression.

"Si. The Biscione is supposed to be large, but its bite isn't venomous." Feliciano said as he trudged behind Ludwig, reaching out a hand to grasp onto the man's back as he lost his footing and needed him to steady himself to avoid tripping yet again.

"Yeah, great. It'll swallow you whole but don't-a worry. If it happens to just bite your limbs off, there won't be any poison." Lovino grouched to Feliciano, the younger just shrugging in response in an attempt to keep his brother from getting too upset.

"Silver lining, da?" Ivan said with a chuckle as he looked to Romano, the other man giving a shaky laugh and nod in nervousness.

"Well…two out of the three are not exactly German-made creatures, are they? At least, not entirely." Antonio said, getting back to his point. Ludwig nodded in understanding, picking up on the train of the thought the Spanish man had created.

"Do not forget rusalka. Are Russian creatures." Ivan interjected once more, Ludwig fighting back the urge to automatically respond with what he considered the correct term.

"Right…" Ludwig said with restraint, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Perhaps it is because there are connections between these creatures with the ones related to my own lands. The…rusalka…are like the nixie. The Donas de fueras aren't all that dissimilar to the concept of the Weisse Frauen which are found in many other lands…" Ludwig continued, trying to find a plausible answer even though such an analytical approach conflicted with the fact that kept repeating in his mind that they were talking about mythological creatures and magical transportation and possibly realms. "It may be that because you were all present when the…spell…was done or as it began to work while we slept off all the beers….these creatures are appearing based on whether or not there is a counterpart on your own lands or possibly just because of your connection historically or geographically with my lands…I don't know." Ludwig said, growing frustrated at nothing making sense. Despite that, Feliciano had clearly been hanging on every word his friend said, a departure from the usual distant gaze he received whenever he attempted any form of training with the smaller man.

"Well, not much else is making sense." Antonio said with a shrug, taking a moment to pause in his walking. He wasn't minding the idea of a siesta sometime soon considering he'd been just as affected by the spectral music as Lovnio but had been more concerned about keeping the other man awake. The typically carefree man gave a heavy sigh, about to rejoin the group when he thought he heard the neighing of a horse. With his curiosity piqued and therefore distracted from the input the younger Italian was provided towards Ludwig's theory, Antonio took a few steps off their 'path' to follow the sound. He listened for the horse again, hearing it seem to come not only farther away but in a different direction. He made a face in confusion before not bothering to follow it further in favor of getting back to their group.

Turning around, he made to head back when he heard it again coming from where he thought he'd first heard the sound and deciding to take just one more minute to see if he could spot the horse. It would make things so much easier if they could have a little equestrian assistance and he was eager to come across something helpful rather than more creatures. However, as he pushed back more shrubbery to keep looking, he was met not with the sight of a horse but of a strange-looking cottage in the middle of the woods. He took a moment to stare at it, wondering if it was really bones making up the fence and if so, should he bother approaching for any possible assistance. He came to the decision that it was better than wandering aimlessly and began to stride forward to the door. He had just reached the fence, hand outstretched to swing open the gate when he was quickly pulled back by an icy grip. Wide-eyed and shivering a little, Antonio spun around to face his assailant and was met with the sight of a worried-looking Ivan with a finger to his lips to signal Antonio to be quiet. Unfortunately, neither Italian brother seemed capable of silence for very long, Feliciano trembling at the sight of the cottage while Lovino glared at Antonio.

"Oi! Bastard! What the hell did you think you were doing going off on your own and making us worry?" Lovino barked out, only realizing what he'd said after the words left his mouth. "I mean, worry about if there was something else we had to run from? Ch-Chigi…And what is this-a supposed to be?" he asked, motioning to the cottage.

"You never heard about any of the fairytales from my lands?" Ludwig said harshly to the southern Italian, causing Romano to blush a little more than what he had been doing before. "Shut-up before whatever witch is in there hears us." He said, grabbing Feliciano's arm to pull him away and gesturing for the others to do the same. But the damage had been done and the door swung open, a haggard-looking woman with long hair stepping forward and coming toward them, using an exaggerated walking stick too thick and too tall to actually be called a walking stick.

The hold Ludwig had on Feliciano was the only thing it seemed that stopped the Italian from taking flight again, much the same way Antonio was blocking Romano's escape route; not that the older brother hadn't tried, only to end up smacking into the Spanish man's chest and having him wrap an arm around his shoulder. Ludwig swallowed thickly as the woman approached, the fence appearing to actually jitter about in the ground as she moved closer. He prepared to speak but instead of managing to say anything, he found himself beaten yet again as Lovino attempted to recover whatever façade of bravado he'd been giving earlier. The man opened his mouth, getting out not much more than 'oi, ha-' as he'd made to call the woman a hag. His foot was quickly stepped on by Ivan who smiled to the old lady and gave a short bow before addressing her.

"Добрый день бабa." Ivan said, the woman looking at him sternly before giving a nod to the Russian man. "Бабa, we are passing by and thought it would be polite to exchange greetings with you." He said with a smile, the words pleasing the old woman.

"If you will call me grandmother for the rest of your visit, you will be rewarded." She said, Ivan nodding again at her, hands folded in front of him in a gesture of deferring to her seniority. "What is it that you are looking for?" She asked, not bothering to look at anyone but Ivan. The Russian made to answer but the woman turned, motioning for Ivan to follow as the gate magically swung open. Ivan shot a brief glance to the others with a clear indication that he was expecting them to wait for him before following after the woman inside her cottage, the others not daring to take a breath until the door magically shut on its own too.

"Should we be worried?" Feliciano asked to Ludwig, the blonde man blinking in confusion at what had just happened before merely giving a little shrug. "Ve~. We should sit down and relax until he gets back. It's too bad we don't have any pasta for me to make in the meantime." He said with a sad sigh, Lovino dropping onto the ground beside him with a grumble to keep quiet about food since he hadn't spent hours with food being tempted right under his nose. Antonio and Ludwig joined the two on the ground, leaning up against the back of one of the trees.

After a little while, the door slammed open again and Ivan walked out of the cottage completely unharmed, smile still in place. "Большое спасибо бабa." He said, walking around to the back of the cottage and returning with three horses, one red, one white, and the other black. "Ah, до свидания бабa." He said, mounting one and leading the other three through the gate and over to his friends as the old woman remained standing in the doorway, looking as displeased as she did when she first appeared. She raised her hand in farewell before her door slammed shut again. "My friends, I knew you would still be waiting. I am having such gladness at seeing you again." Ivan said as Ludwig got to his feet, shaking awake the Italy brothers to help him grab ahold of the horses. "But we had better be leaving before her house decides to get up and walk away." The Russian man continued, Ludwig looking at him in confusion before shaking his head and mounting the black horse.

"Tomato-bastard, wake up!" Romano said, shoving the sleeping Antonio so that he fell to his side, now wide awake. "We've got transportation. Let's go." He said, Antonio yawning but quickly getting up.

"Who is riding with whom?" Antonio asked, although he was looking pleading at both Italy brothers. Feliciano was asking his brother to ride with him, but it seemed that Romano wasn't too keen on the idea, complaining about how many times they would have to stop when Feliciano would become distracted and fall off their horse – he also said the red horse was giving him a funny look anyway and didn't want to get on it. Antonio chuckled and easily mounted the red mare, holding out a hand for Feliciano to take.

"Oh no! I'm-a not riding with the potato-bastard." Lovino said, brushing past his brother to grab Antonio's hand and sit behind him. Feliciano pouted at not getting to ride the red horse, looking ready to start arguing with his brother.

"You two can take turns. Get on with me or Ivan now Feliciano." Ludwig barked out, his commanding tone spurring Feliciano to jump onto the black horse with the German man without aid or further prompting. Ludwig grunted from the impact of having the other man slam into his back, the horse also giving a whine in protest and stomping the ground a few times before Ludwig calmed it down.

"How did you manage to get away without injury? And with such pretty horses too?" Feliciano asked once they were moving away from the house and the witch. Ivan was leading the way again atop the white horse, looking more relaxed than before.

"It is Baba Yaga. That was her pestle she was carrying when she flies around in her mortar." Ivan said nonchalantly. "If you are polite and don't refuse her hospitality, she is like any other woman living in a cottage with a fence of bones of those she didn't not like and cursed to eternally watch over her cottage." He said, turning to face the others with a smile on his face. "All you need to do is follow what she said and call her grandmother. I told her we needed to find a way home and she gave me these horses and directions to the others in exchange for a small matryoshka I had recently made with smiling faces and bright colors." He said with a bit of pride in his voice. "Was better option than letting her cook one of you, although, it did take me a while to make dolls. Will have to start all over now." He said, the others paling a little at the thought that Ivan might have considered letting the witch possibly scrutinize the group for a potential meal.

"Wait, you didn't ask about where the others were?" Ludwig asked once he found his voice. "What are we supposed to do about them?" He said, Ivan turning back around to face the others again.

"I forgot." He said with a shrug, not entirely convincing even though he had been delicately maneuvering in a deadly game with a potentially cannibalistic witch at the time. "But she told me to get home, we need to find the others and so she gave me directions to them. No problem." He said, Ludwig shaking his head yet again. "This makes two of my stories here. There are many old witches in the middle of woods in your stories. We are fortunate it was one I knew." He said, returning to sitting normally on the horse. Ludwig looked to the others, not sure what to say to that and reluctantly having to admit that they were lucky to have someone on their side who could be almost as creepy as the monsters they were facing.